Planning For Greatness

“Expect Greatness By Planning For It”

I came across this quote recently from my friends at Duktig Brand Company and I love it.

Have you ever gone to bed on Sunday night ready to attack your goals for the week ahead only to wake up on Monday morning and feel as if you’re being pulled in a thousand different directions. Before you know it the week is attacking you and you’re just reacting.

Yeah, I hear ya. Me too.

The feeling of being pulled in hundreds of different directions really became evident once I retired from soccer. Coaching, starting my own business, writing, simply over-scheduled – all of it led me to lying awake at night with a millions different thoughts and ideas running through my head with no focus or plan on how to solve it.

I see this with soccer players all the time – running around with not much direction, feeling overwhelmed and no real certainty of why they’re doing what they’re doing.

This changed when I found the coaching group Strength Faction. Yes, you read that right, coaches need coaches.

One of the overarching themes of the Faction is continuous improvement. Making small improvements on a consistent basis. We do this by “Feeding the Piggy Bank” or investing in ourselves, planning, and setting goals.

The one habit that has made the biggest difference in my life has allowed me to focus and attack the things that are most important in my life.

I call this habit the Simple Sunday Ritual.

Here’s how it works….

Step 1: Brain Dump

Simply grab a pen and paper and write down everything you have to get done for the week.

Soccer Practice

School/School Work

Work

Performance/Strength Training

Errands

Friends

Family

No matter what it is….just get it down on paper and out of your head.

Step 2: Prioritize

Some things are non-negotiable so get those down in your planner first. These are the “big rocks” in your life, your main commitments.

Once you have your big rocks filled in, begin adding in the other tasks that you want to accomplish. This is the most important as we all find ourselves saying there’s not enough time in the day to get done what we want to. But, by getting all your main commitments scheduled, you can begin to notice where you have openings in your schedule to make small improvements, investments.

If you’re goal is become more comfortable with the ball by improving your technique – now you can look for gaps in your day where you can plug it in. If your goal is to improve your fitness, scheduling your day allows you to maximize your time to add in some additional conditioning work.

No matter the goal – scheduling and prioritizing our time allows us to really see that we do have time to accomplish what we want to.

Step 3: Execute

Get after it. Dreams don’t work unless you do. It might sound cliche, but unless you’re willing to put in the work necessary, your dream will only be just that….a dream.

Step 4: Be Consistent

One of my favorite books is the, Slight Edge which is centered around the premise that small, daily tasks performed consistently over time are what create momentum and eventually lead to big results. This allows for the main focus to be on the process rather than always on the outcome. Reflect and assess every Sunday so you have a good sense of where you stand.

As we continue to excel – the more opportunities we have available. At the same time the more responsibility we must bear – therefore it’s essential to plan and prioritize what is important to us. So whether you’re a current soccer player chasing after dreams of playing at the highest level or are a life-long athlete planning is the gateway to achieving greatness.